Telephone-transmitter construction



Jan. 15, 1924.-

T. F. ROSE, JR

TELEPHONE TRANSMITTER CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June so'. 192i ""5 z iwf/Fmi' @3f Jan. l5, 1924.

T. F. ROSE, JR

TELEPHONE TRANSMITTER CONSTRUCTION Filed June 30. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 15, 1924.

THEODORE F. ROSE, JR., OF COLLINGSWOOD. NEW JERSEY. l

TELEPHONETRANSMITTER CONSTRUCTION.

Application led June 30, 1921. Serial No. 481,497.

To all 'whom it may oonc'ern:4

Be it known that I, THEoDoRE F. Rosa, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Collingswood, in the county of Camden 5 and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone-Transmitter Constructions, of which the following is a speciication.

It is often necessary or desirable during l telephone conversations to temporarily prevent the person at the opposite end of the line from hearing any talking, conversation or other sounds at the transmitting end of the line. Especially in business matters, l during a telephone conversation, it is often necessary for one of the parties to ask questions or hold direct conversation with some one else which is not desirable for the party at the opposite end of the line to hear.

Prior to my present invention it was common practice, when it was desired to cut off such sounds, to place the palm of the hand over` the mouth piece of the transmitter. This means of cutting oil' the sound was not entirely satisfactor7 for a number of reasons. In the first place, it required that the vperson lcutting off the sound had to remain near the telephone in order to keep his hand over the opening of the 'transmitter even '30 though the situation would have been benefited ifsaid latter person oould have left the telephone for example for the purpose of inspecting prices, letters or other papers which were located at positions remote from the telephone. Furthermore such action is crude and does not look ve nice and may be misunderstood by an o server not acquainted with the reason for cutting ofi". the sound from the transmitter. Another rea- 40 son of the unsatisfactory character of this means of attempting to cut off the sound is that-it has been found that such placing of the hand over the transmitter will not entirely cut off the sound and it has been V proved that even though the hand is placed over the transmitter that the person on the opposite end of the line can hear the sounds at the transmitting end of the line.

One object of my present invention is to rovide improved means which can be used 1n connection with a telephone for the purpose of positively silencing the transmitter and reventing Vsound from being transmittag. A Another object is to make my improved means of a simple, neatand durable construction which can be readily applied to any type of ltelephone now in common use A further "object is to so construct my iniproved device that it can be conveniently and easily operated withoutdetection by' an observer.

A still further object is to so construct my invention that it will be sanitary and so that the parts can be readily removed for cleaning and repair purposes.

lhese objects, and other advantageous ends which will be described hereinafter, I attain in the following manner, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a telephone having my invention applied thereto,

Fig-ure 2 is an enlarged front elevation of a telephone transmitter such as shown in Figure 1, made in accordance with my invention,

Figure 3 is an enlarged section taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is an enlarged section taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 2,

Figure 5 is a view o`f the same general character as that shown in Figure 4 illus- 'trating certain of the parts having been moved into a position to silence and prevent vibration of the diaphragm and also .to close the interior of the transmitter mouth piece,

Figure` 6 is a section taken on the line 6 6 of Figure 5,

Figures 7 to 13 inclusive are detail views of certain ot' the parts -oi' my invention,

Figure 14 is a fragmentaryiview generally similar to that shown in Figure 3 illustrating a slight addition to allow the application of my invention to telephones of various characters,

Figure 15 is an elevation partly in section showing a slight modification of my invention,

Figure 16 is a section taken on the line 16-16 of Figure 15, and

Figurev 17 is an enlarged fragmentary section of a portion of-the device shown in Figure 15.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figures 1 to 13 inclusive, my invention includes a mouth piece 18 which may be made of any suitable material including a hollow. body portion 19 providing an in- Wardly tapering chamber 20. Upon the wide outer end of this body portion is screwed a fiange ring 21 providing a sound inlet opening 22. Three disks 23, 24 and 25 are held Within the ring 21 by stud screws 26; the disks 24 being positioned between the disks 23 and 25 and having slots 27 through which the stud screws 26 extend so that the disk 24 can be oscillated relatively to the disks 23 and 25. The disk 24 has a handle extension 28 which projects out of a slot 29 in the flange 30 of the ring 21 as clearly shown in Figure 6.l The disks 23 and 25 have perforations 31 and 31a which are always in alignment with each other and the disk 24 has perforations 32 which can be moved into and out of registry With the perforations 31 and 31 by the oscillating movement of the disk 24 through the medium of the handle 28. Thus ,for example when the handle is in the position shown in full lines in Figures 2 and 3, the perforations 321' will be in registry with the perforations 31 and 31@ and sound entering through the opening 22 of the ring 21 will pass. into' the` chamber 20 of the body portion of the mouth piece.

The disk 25 has a sleeve extension 33 which is provided with a helically arranged slot 34 as clearly shown in Figures 3 and 11. A silencing plunger 35 freely fits' within the sleeve 33 and has a pin 36 projecting therefromv into the slot 34 of the sleeve 33. The disk 24 has a tongue 37 positioned perpendicularly thereto which slidably fits in a notch 38 ou one end of the silencing plunger 35. The other end of the silencing plunger has a cavity 39 in which may directly fit the stem 40 of a cap 41. This cap 41 may be made of felt or other soft material and is of such size and shape that when the parts previously described are in their normal positions as shown in Figures 3 and 4 thatit will be located in a position away from the diaphragm 42 of vthe telephone; it being noted that the body portion 19 of the mouth piece has a part 43 which is'adapted to be screwed in the screw threaded opening 44 of the diaphragm case 45. If desired the body portion 19 can include a perforated partition 46 having a central hole 47 through which a part of the plunger 36 extends.

Under normal operating conditions as shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4,. sound entering the chamber 2O through the opening 22, perorations 31, 31a and 32 andthe perforated partition 46 Will eli'ect vibration of the diaphragm in the usual manner so that said sound will be transmitted to the opposite end of the line. lf it is desired to silence the transmitting end of the Itelephone, it is merely necessary to move the handle 28 from the position shown in full lines in Figure 2 to the position shown in dot-and-dash lines in said latter gure. This will effect a rotatable movement of the disk 24 and the tongue 37 will partially rotate the plunger 35. Since the pin 36 is within the helical groove 34, the pin 36 will follow a helical path and the plunger 35 in addition to this rotatable movement Will be moved longitudinally to move the cap 4l into engagement with the diaphragm 42 as shown in Figure 5; thereby preventing vibration of the diaphragm 42 by any sounds Which may occur immediately adjacent thereto.. This same movement of the handle 28 will move the perforations 32 out of registry With the y perfor-ations 31 and 31a and the chamber 20 Will'be closed.

Not only is the lstructure advantageous for the purpose ofrsilencing the transmitting end of a ,telephone but it is also advantageous in preventing dirt and germs from passing into -tlre chamber 20 when the telephone is not in use; since after a conversation the handle 28l can be moved as just described and when the perforations 32 move out of register With` the perforations 31 and 31a the chamber 20 Will be closed and hence dirt cannot clog in the mouth piece in the space provided by the chamber 20.

In certain types of telephonesv the location of the diaphragm varies and in Figure 14, I have shown an adjustable extension plug 48-which is screwed in the cavity 39 of the silencing plunger and this plug 48 has a cupshape end 49 in which may be cemented or otherwise secured the cap 41'of fel-t or other soft or resilient material. This plug 48 can be screwed into the cavity 39 to any desired extent so that the outer end of the cap 41 can be positioned at the properv normal spaced distance from the diaphragm and thus I can compensate for variation in the location of the diaphragm in telephones of dili'erent types.l After the proper adjustment is secured the plug 48 can be locked against accidental movement by means of a set screw 50.

In Figures 15, 16 and 17, I have illustrated a construction in which the body portion of the mouth piece has an annular internal groove 51 in which is positioned a strip or ring 52 of material such as felt, cotton or other material which is saturated with a dis- -infecting material and I have illustrated a' spring-pressed ring 53 for holding the material 52 Within thegroove. The ring land the material 52 can be readily sprung in place within the groove 51 so that any disease germs Within the mouth piece will be destroyed by the medicated or disinfecting material.

While I have described my invention as taking a particular form, it will be understood that the various arts of my invention may be changed Wit out departing from the spirit thereof, and hence I do not limit myself to the precise construction set forth,

but consider that I am at liberty to make` such changes and alterations as fairly come within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz- 1. A device of the character described including a sleeve having a helical slot; 'a silencing plunger having a portion engaging in said slot; and means for effecting a rotatable movement to said lunger whereby said portion will follow said) slot and the plunger will be moved lengthwise.

2. A device of the character described including a rtion having a helical slot; a silencing p unger having a notch and a part within said slot' and a movable member having .a tongue slidably fitting within said notch, said member adapted to be moved to impart a rotatable movement to said lun er whereby said part within the slot wi l e ect la longitudinal movement to said plunger.

3. device of the character described including a hollow mouth piece; .a disk having a sleeve projecting into the space within the mouth piece, said sleeve havin a helical slot; asilencin plunger freel fitting within said sleeve van `having a notc and a part engaging in said slot; andy a disk mounted so as to be free to oscillateand having a tongue freely fitting within said notch, said latter disk having a portion whereby it can be oscillated.

4. A device of the character described including a hollow mouth piece; a disk having a sleeve projecting into the space within the mouth piece, said sleeve having a helical slot a silencing plunger freelyittmg within sai sleeve and having a notch and a part engaging in said slot; and a disk mounted so as to be free to oscillate and having a tongue freely fitting within said notch2 said latter disk having a portion whereby 1t can be oscillated, said disks having perforations rela tively movable into and out of registry.

5. A telephone transmitter including a hollow body' a fixed disk and a rotatable disk mountedin the outer end of the body the disks having corresponding perforations; a sleeve carried b the fixed disk; a silencing plunger movab y mounted in the sleeve; means for imparting movement to vthe rotatable disk, and connections between the rotary disk and the plunger whereby rotation of the disk will actuate-the plunger and close the perforations.

6. A telephone transmitter including a hollow body; a flanged ring secured to the outer part thereof; disks mounted in the' ring and havin corresponding perforations,

-twovof the dis s being fixed and the other rotatable; a sleeve carried by a fixed disk; a silencing plunger movably mounted in the sleeve; means for imparting movement to the rotatable disk, and connections between the rotary disk and the plunger whereby rotation of the disk will actuate the plunger and close the y perforations.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. 

